Captain of My Heart

by Giselle Lumas

  I rushed over to open the door. “What happened?”

  Max wore a scowl on his face and explained, “I got a blister, and it popped.” He showed me his right hand, and sure enough between his thumb and index finger there was puss oozing out of what was once a blister.

  “You'll be all right, Max,” Captain Ray said. “You did great out there. You're just not used to yard work. You’ll get the hang of it. I think you should stop for now.”

  “Ah, man!” Max whined. “Come on, I can still help. It’s just a blister.”

  “No, you’re done for the day. Thank you for helping.”

  “But…”

  “Max,” I warned. “That’s enough. Go take a shower. Wash off the blister while you’re in there. It’s going to hurt, but I need you to wash it with warm soapy water and rinse it off good. Okay?”

  He pouted and continued to scowl at the same time. He stomped his way into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

  “He did great,” the captain said.

  “Thank you,” I said, “for clearing the brush and for including him. It means a lot.”

  “Well, I’d hate to see anything bad happen to your home or family. Not a problem.”

  “Would you guys like to stay for lunch? I can run to the store and pick up stuff to make hamburgers or hot dogs. Chips? Beer?” My heart was racing. He was still standing out on the patio, and I was still inside. I felt my entire body tighten from being so close to him. Was it my imagination, or was he leaning toward me? I inhaled the scent of him. He was sweating, but I could smell soap on him and… just… mmm… man.

  “Seriously, Mom. Think Nana and casino,” Kyra mumbled from the breakfast bar, loud enough so that I could hear.

  But Captain Ray had a sparkle in his eye. It can’t just be me and my I-haven’t-had-sex-in-two-years self. Geez, has it really been two years?

  “I’d love to stay for lunch, and I’m sure the guys would, too, but we all have other commitments today. We should be done within the hour. We are going to remove fifty feet. Is that okay with you?”

  “Oh, yes. Thanks again.”

  “You’re welcome. We will go out the same way we came in through your side gate here.”

  “Okay.”

  He took a few steps back, then said, “If I don’t talk to you before we leave, have a nice weekend.”

  “You, too,” I said. I felt rejected and disappointed. I wanted to get to know him better, but there was no reason for him to stay longer.

  Chapter Three

  The rest of Saturday went by in a blur of shopping for Kyra’s dance recital costume and arguing with Max about making faces at his sister whenever she tried on something new.

  On Sunday Max had a basketball game. He was in a summer league through the Palm Hills Recreation Center. Kyra was sitting next to me on the bleachers. Thankfully, the courts were indoors where there was working air-conditioning. We were sitting on the top bleachers and leaning our backs against the wall.

  “How long is this going to take?” Kyra whined.

  “Only about an hour,” I estimated.

  Kyra rolled her eyes. She reached into her light-blue mini backpack and pulled out her iPhone and earbuds. Not for the first time, I questioned my parenting skills. Moments like this I wished I hadn’t bought both of the kids phones, but being paranoid and protective—and single—I wanted them to always have a way to reach me. I liked the ability to track where they were at all times. Kyra quickly immersed herself in her own world of music while I watched my son and his team warm up before the game. I was impressed with Max’s willingness and eagerness to play today even with his hand bandaged from the blister.

  I was watching Max run up and down the basketball court, dribbling and passing the ball to his teammates, when I saw Captain Ray stroll into the gym. My body tensed, and I sat up straighter. Then I felt a ball of nerves jumbled with sparks begin to tumble and rumble in the pit of my stomach. A gorgeous, petite brunette woman with bigger boobs than me had her arms entwined with his. I growled.

  “Mom.” Kyra tapped my knee. When I glanced away from Ray to give my daughter attention, she asked, “Did you actually just growl?”

  I covered my mouth from shock. “Did I?” I blinked, waiting for her answer, then explained, “I thought I only thought it.”

  Kyra shook her head.

  “How could you even hear me? You had earbuds in.”

  “I’m not playing any music yet.” Kyra shook her head. “So embarrassing,” she mumbled, then put the earbuds back in.

  When I turned back to Ray and the brunette, they weren’t there anymore. I shifted back and forth, looking all over the bleachers. Finally I spotted them sitting on the far left side in the front row. The brunette still had her arms intertwined with Ray’s and was sitting extremely close. I wondered if perhaps she was his girlfriend, or worse—maybe his wife. “Ugh.”

  “Every woman here feels the same,” one of the other moms said. “Captain Ray is Palm Hills’s most eligible bachelor.”

  “I believe it,” I said. “Oh, did you say bachelor?” I couldn’t help but grin.

  She nodded. “You’re new here. I’ve never seen you before,” the woman said. “I’m Cathy. What’s your name?” She stuck her hand out in greeting.

  I accepted it and said, “Cassie. We just moved here about a month ago. Which one of the players are you here to see?”

  “Aside from Captain Ray, you mean?” Cathy asked with a giggle.

  I nodded.

  Cathy pointed to a scrawny kid with red hair who Max just passed the ball to. “That redhead right there is my son, Tommy.”

  “Oh, looks like my son is on the same team. Max just passed the ball to Tommy.”

  “So, that’s Max.” Cathy grinned. “Our sons are good friends. Tommy talks about Max all the time.” We continued to chat during the warm-up and periodically during the game. The boys lost by three points, but they appeared to be in good spirits. Kyra and I followed Cathy to the front of the gym while we waited for the coach to finish talking to the team.

  “I think that will work, Ray. I will bring it up to the board members, and we can vote on it during the next meeting. Thanks for taking time out to talk to me today.”

  “No problem, Lynette.” That deep, sexy voice hit my ears, and a sensation immediately zinged straight to my hoo-ha. It didn’t help matters when I felt a firm but gentle hand touch my forearm. I jumped, and my heart hammered in my chest. “Cassie, nice to see you here.”

  “I, um… Hi,” I choked out.

  “Lynette, this is Cassie. She just moved here. Cassie, this is Mayor Lynette Jenkins.”

  “Oh, wow. The mayor.” I felt small. Good grief, get a grip. You’re a strong, smart, single mother of two. “Nice to meet you.”

  The mayor held out her hand to greet me. When I accepted it, she immediately pulled me in for a hug. “Oh, I’m a hugger. Hope you don’t mind. Welcome to Palm Hills. I’m sure I will see a lot of you. My grandson is playing here at the rec center. Let me know if you would like to do any volunteer work. We always have plenty of openings for help around the community.”

  I nodded. I refused to verbally commit to anything at that moment. After all, I could barely take care of myself and my kids.

  “I had better get going. Thanks again, Ray. Cassie, I will see you.”

  Why does that worry me?

  “Oh, don’t worry. Mayor Jenkins never forces anyone to do anything they don’t want to do. She is a very resourceful woman, though,” Cathy explained. She turned her attention to Ray. “So, how’d your grandson do, Ray?”

  “They won,” Ray said proudly. His hand was still on my forearm. My nipples really needed to loosen up a bit. They hurt from being so ridiculously turned on. Once again, thank goodness I had a padded bra on that covered up my hormonal reaction to this man.

  Then something registered in my brain. Grandson. Ray had a grandson who was the same age as my son. Right. No age difference. I sighed.

&nb
sp; Ray tilted his head a bit, then finally released my arm. “Max played pretty well out there.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “Who taught him to play?”

  I grinned. “Me. I love to play.”

  He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Really?”

  “Yep.”

  “Did you play in school?”

  “Nope. I wasn’t much of a sports person in school. I was more of a hide-in-the-library-with-books kind of girl.”

  “Mom, can we go yet?” Kyra asked. She was standing off to the side with her headphones still in her ears.

  “Actually, I need to get going, too. My son wants Drake to be home before one. His future in-laws are stopping by to meet him for the first time.”

  “Oh,” was the only reply I could come up with.

  I wanted Ray to stay. I wanted to get to know him better.

  “Well, I guess I will see you around. Palm Hills isn’t that big. It’s not quite a small town, but it’s not exactly a big city, either. See you soon.”

  I hope so, I thought.

  Chapter Four

  I didn’t feel like working. Mondays were stupid. Really, whoever came up with the concept of Monday was an idiot. Whoever came up with the idea of work was an idiot! I groaned as I logged into yet another conference call from my home office. Since relocating from San Francisco to Palm Hills, I’d worked from home. I reminded myself for the gazillionth time how fortunate I was to be able to work from home, especially during the summer when the kids were out of school. It saved me a ton of money on day care and summer camp, plus I was able to spend more time with the kids. The downside was that work always had a way to get in touch with me. The day went by quickly thanks to the constant need for conference calls and lots of ridiculous urgent matters that needed my immediate attention. I was a techy dork. My title at the benefits distribution company really didn’t matter. Honestly, I couldn’t remember my title for the life of me. Basically, when any new laws went into effect, the company had to change something in the corporate database. And whenever changes were made to the database, they needed someone to test it and make sure nothing was broken. That was me. I tried to break the database and report any issues I found. See? Techy dork.

  Around noon I heard a knock on my front door. I could hear Kyra and Max scuffle as they wrestled for who would answer the door. I answered before they could break up their fight. At a glance, it looked like Kyra was winning. She currently had Max in a headlock. “Knock it off!” I shouted as I opened the door.

  “Hi, Cass,” Captain Ray said. He was rubbing the right side of his chin.

  “Hi,” I said, surprised. “What brings you here?”

  “Sorry to interrupt your day,” Ray said genuinely. “I realized this morning that I forgot my favorite thermos in your backyard. I brought it over the day we were clearing the brush.”

  “Oh,” I said, a little disappointed. A big part of me hoped Ray had stopped by to ask me out on a date.

  “Come on in.” I gestured for him to come inside my home. “We can check out back.”

  As he entered the house, Kyra released Max from the headlock. Max said, “Whoa. Hi, Captain.”

  “Hello, Max, Kyra.”

  Kyra nodded a simple acknowledgment to Ray, then glanced my way. She narrowed her eyes at me in warning to not embarrass myself or, more important, her. I smirked a rebuttal back to warn and remind her that I was the mama. She shook her head in utter denial, then rolled her eyes.

  “What was that about?” Ray asked as he followed me outside.

  “Oh, nothing. Just Kyra being a teenager.”

  “I remember those days. I don’t miss them.” Ray chuckled.

  “Oh, is that yours?” I asked, pointing to the stainless steel thermos that was on top of my patio table.

  “Yep.” He grabbed the thermos and fidgeted with it. He glanced down at it and cleared his throat. He looked back up at me, closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them, he had a look of pure determination in his light-brown eyes. “Look, we are both adults. I’m just going to call it as I see it. I think you’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met. I know you are hesitant about me since I have a grandson who is the same age as your son, but, well, age is irrelevant. I’m attracted to you. I’d like to take you out for a cup of coffee and get to know you better. See where this mutual attraction takes us.”

  I blushed, frozen. My mind stopped working even though another part of me was fully awake and dancing inside. The majority of me, though, was in shock. How was it possible that this man, this sexy, handsome man, could be attracted to me?

  “This is the part where you either tell me I misread our attraction and ask me to leave or say I was right and accept my invitation,” Ray explained with his hands on his hips and his thick gray eyebrows raised.

  I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “Yes,” I finally managed to sputter. “I’d love to go out for coffee with you.”

  “Great.” He grinned. “Is now a good time, or do you want me to come by later today to pick you up?”

  I blinked. My hands went to my hair. It was a mass of untamed curls as usual, but at least it was clean. I was dressed, which was good. I was in the habit of showering and dressing for the day before starting work. I didn’t want to get into the habit of wearing pajamas all day long. It was a shorts-and-tank-top kind of day in Southern California. “Well, I’m working right now. But I can take a lunch break. My kids will have to go with us, if you don’t mind.” That was really a lie. Kyra could have easily watched Max, but I wanted to have an out if things went badly. I chewed my lip, then offered, “They can sit at a different table.”

  He nodded. “That would be okay. I’ll even spring for sandwiches and pastries.”

  “Thanks, Ray,” I said with a smile. When we walked back inside the house, I announced, “Kids, we’re going to lunch with Ray.”

  “Cool!” Max shouted.

  “Do we have to go?” Kyra pouted.

  “Yes, you guys need to eat, and it’s only for an hour.”

  Kyra rolled her eyes but said, “Fine. I’ll get dressed.”

  We sat at a small round table near the entrance of the coffee shop. The kids sat in a booth in the corner where I could keep an eye on them. I sipped on my blended iced mocha and nibbled on my club sandwich. “So, tell me about yourself,” Ray urged before taking a sip of his black coffee.

  “I’m not sure where to start. To be honest, it’s been a while since I went out on a date.”

  “Well, don’t think of it as a date. Think of it as going for coffee, relaxing, and getting to know each other.”

  I nodded, though it didn’t help. I didn’t know what I should or shouldn’t share with Ray.

  He seemed to sense my uneasiness. “How about telling me more about what brought you here to Palm Hills?”

  “Well, I thought about moving here after my divorce, and then my aunt passed. She left me the house. She knew I was only thinking about moving, but it gave me the ability to do it.” My throat grew a little tight from the pressure of holding back tears. My aunt Annie was a second mom to me. She was always there even though we were miles apart. We talked on the phone every day.

  “She had a massive heart attack, right?” Ray asked softly.

  I nodded.

  “We responded to the emergency call.”

  “Of course.” I nodded again and took another sip of my mocha. “I always knew it would be either diabetes or heart issues that would take her away from me. She was addicted to sugar.” I missed her. She had beautiful smooth dark skin and thick hair that she preferred to wear in an Afro. “When I stayed with her during the summers, I had to give her insulin shots,” I reflected out loud. I shook my head.

  Ray seemed to want to change the subject, so he asked, “Where were you living before?”

  “San Francisco. My ex-husband was a real estate agent there.”

  Ray raised his eyebrows. “If you don’t mind my asking, why’d you
two get a divorce?”

  I took a deep breath in and a slow breath out. Wow, he’s just jumping right in and getting the uncomfortable topics out the way. I took another bite of my sandwich. As I chewed, I contemplated how to answer. I decided on the truth. I swallowed, then admitted, “It was a surprise to me. One day after work, I picked up the kids from day care, and when I arrived home, there was a note on the kitchen table. He had been having an affair and had moved to Europe to be with the woman. He left details about who would be selling our house along with the name and phone number of his divorce attorney.”

  “Wow.” Ray shook his head.

  “Yep, wow. But…” I took another deep breath and said, “I told him early on, before we were married, that if he didn’t want to be with me, he should just tell me. I don’t want to stay somewhere I’m not really wanted. Never have, never will. Why would anyone want to stay where they aren’t truly loved? Right? So there you have it.”

  Ray nodded.

  “What about you? Ever been married? I know you have a grandson. Any other grandkids? Kids?”

  He sipped his coffee and said, “My wife passed away about ten years ago. I have two boys. One, I haven’t talked to in about two years. I’m not quite ready to speak of that. My other son is engaged and is adopting his fiancé’s son, who you met at the rec center the other day.”

  I smiled.

  “Let me see. What else can I tell ya?” Ray rubbed his right cheek, then continued, “I’ve been with the Fire Department thirty plus years. I’ll probably stay until they force me to retire.”

  I nodded.

  “What do you do, Cass?”

  “I’m a techy dork for a benefits administration company. I test their system when any new changes need to be implemented and try to break it, then let the other techs know what I found. Then they fix it. Just glad I can work from home so I can be there for the kids, you know?”

  He bobbed his chin.

  I glanced over at Kyra and Max. They seemed to be deep in conversation and enjoying their lunch. Max caught me watching them and waved. I waved back with a smile. Kyra glanced my way and just rolled her eyes.